NSC and Others Pledge to Reduce Workplace Injuries
This National Safety Month, more than 15 organizations have signed the pledge.
- By Alex Saurman
- Jun 06, 2022
June is National Safety Month. This year, the National Safety Council (NSC) and more than 15 other organizations are pledging to improve worker safety.
According to a press release, these organizations have signed a pledge to reduce musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) injuries by 25 percent by 2025.
MSDs, or “ergonomic injuries,” can occur when a person performs repetitive motions or overexerts parts of the body. These injuries affect thousands of workers every year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, 272,780 cases of MSD caused people to miss work in the private sector.
The organizations pledging to change numbers like these include, per the press release, NSC, Amazon, "Alcon Research, LLC; Ansell Inteliforz; Amentum; American Industrial Hygiene Association; AMP; Benchmark ESG; Cummins Inc.; Human Balance and Stability Systems, LLC; John Deere; MEGA InTech; Meteorite; Tenneco; United Airlines; and VelocityEHS."
Many of these organizations signed the MSD Pledge at the Workplace Safety Summit: Business Action to Prevent Musculoskeletal Injuries on June 2, 2022. The pledge, per the release, includes promises to:
- “Reduce risks by analyzing the causes of MSD injuries across operations and investing in solutions and practices that reduce risks to workers.
- Innovate and collaborate by leveraging best practices and sharing learnings and countermeasures to expand upon innovations to improve safety practices.
- Build an organizational culture that values safety by promoting a workplace where safety excellence, transparency, and accurate reporting are equally valued, and where everyone, at every level of the organization, is accountable for the safety and health of workers.
- Commit to a significant reduction of MSD injuries by creating safer outcomes for millions of workers worldwide and reducing MSD risk and subsequent injuries by 25% by 2025.”
These organizations also receive free training and opportunities to share successes.
“At NSC, our mission is not only to save lives, but also to prevent injuries and we are asking employers everywhere to join the MSD Pledge and keep workers safe, so they can spend more time doing the things they love with the people they love – which is precisely what this month, National Safety Month, represents,” said Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO in the press release.
The MSD Pledge is free and open to any employer.
To learn more about MSDs, visit our resources or podcast.
Other initiatives to improve MSD injuries from NSC include an advisory council, research, challenges and grants.
About the Author
Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.